by Sabella Abidde

 

 

 

The question many indigenes of the oil-producing communities have asked is this: “Why is Jonathan so indifferent to the problems and challenges of the region?” And, by extension, “Why is Jonathan indifferent to the problems and challenges of Nigeria?”

As someone who has invested several years of intellectual resources into the Niger Delta crisis, the January 2, 2013 editorial of The PUNCH caught my attention. The editorial was titled, “The never-ending amnesty programme.” Several salient points were made — including the fact that the amnesty programme “paved the way for oil companies to resume normal business activities and provided the necessary boost to the oil-reliant Nigerian economy.” Nonetheless, “three years down the line, what was introduced as an ad hoc measure to tackle a dire security and economic situation has since raised concern by those who feel it is fast becoming a programme in clear danger of being abused.”

The PUNCH went on to raise several other questions and weighty concerns. Because I am not officially affiliated with Mr. Kingsley Kuku — Chairman of the Amnesty Programme and Special Adviser to the President on the Niger Delta — or with his office, I cannot speak on his behalf. However, it is my opinion that he and or his office should comprehensively address all of the questions and concerns raised in the said editorial. Frankly, nothing else and nothing less will do! In a democracy, and especially in instances where the public purse is concerned, accountability should be of utmost concern. My thinking and expectation are that Kuku will rise to the occasion.

But really, the larger and more important questions should be directed at President Goodluck Jonathan. After all, this is a President that does not seem concerned about the region and its people. The President is not just the leader of the Niger Delta. No. He is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, considering the fact that the region has been the nation’s primary breadbasket for more than 40 years, and considering also the neglect and penury it has suffered and continues to suffer, it deserves special attention by all. Indeed, there are Niger Deltans who believe that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua would have done much more. They believe that his pronouncements and deeds were more genuine; and that he was more suited to solving the region’s problems.

The question many indigenes of the oil-producing communities have asked is this: “Why is Jonathan so indifferent to the problems and challenges of the region?” And, by extension, “Why is Jonathan indifferent to the problems and challenges of Nigeria?” As far as I am concerned, the problems of the region are also the problems of the country – except that the problems of the Niger Delta are more pronounced and more directly connected to the political and economic survival of the country.

Look at it this way: the Boko Haram sect may be a “killing machine,” but it cannot bring Nigeria to its knees.  The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta is the only non-state actor with the wherewithal to suffocate the country at home and abroad.

Jonathan’s action and inaction, insofar as the Niger Delta is concerned, are a recipe for helping MEND rise from the ashes (much like the phoenix rose). And so, the Editorial Board of The PUNCH may want to have an extensive chit-chat with the President. As bad as 2005-2009 was for the multinational oil companies and for Nigeria’s foreign earnings, imagine the effect the second coming of MEND would have on the nation’s budgetary ability? Just imagine!

Now, because the Niger Delta has been calm for 40 months, a majority of Nigerians seem to think that all is well with the region. It is not! There are those who think of the conflict as something that belongs in the past and as something that will never happen again. They are mistaken! The Niger Delta region has remained, for the most part, the way it has been for several decades: a landscape characterised by ecological squalour; high levels of unemployment; teeming and restless youths; developmentally barren communities; and air of hopelessness.

In essence, nothing has changed: nothing has changed in any meaningful and long-lasting ways since the amnesty programme came into effect in 2009. What we have – what we now have in the Niger Delta – is false peace, false hope and a deceitful calm. This is a region waiting to explode. Again.

One of the reasons why the region appears calm is that many of the men and women who otherwise would have been engaged in the conflict signed off on the amnesty programme. In this and other regards, therefore, the programme has been good for the region. But in many other ways, it has not been so good. For instance, many seem to believe that the programme is the panacea for the region’s ills. It is not! Many seem to think that the programme is the best thing that can ever happen to the region. No! And others want the programme to go on indefinitely, or at least, for much longer. It shouldn’t! This Presidential Amnesty Programme was designed for specific purposes and for a specific period of time.

Once the benchmarks of accomplishment are attained, they should be discontinued. But really, what were the benchmarks (of success) — as envisioned by the late President Yar’Adua? How would we know if and when the desired goals have been met? And more fundamentally, the amnesty programme has not been that great for the area and for its teeming youths because, among other reasons, it has a narrow focus in terms of those who benefit from it.This is what I mean: the programme should have been enlarged to accommodate youths from all corners of the region, and not restricted to only those from the oil-producing states. What’s more, non-militant youths (with the requisite academic background) should have been allowed in.

In addition, about 40 per cent of the slots should have been reserved for women (because girls and women are the most exploited and most disadvantaged in the region). Furthermore, many of the students were sent to schools with dubious and inferior credentials. Many were even sent to countries that had no advantage over Nigeria. Fortunately, the Kuku-led team quickly learnt from its mistakes.

In the end, we must remember that governments created the problems that are associated with the Niger Delta, and so only governments can solve them.  But the problem is that successive governments have lacked the political will to marshal appropriate resources for a once-and-for-all solution.

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Sabella Abidde can be reached at [email protected]

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija